


non stop paranoia

by spaace



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: College AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 17:19:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19300261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaace/pseuds/spaace
Summary: "but, maybe it would be easier if he was straight. richie hitting on him, inviting all of these boys inside their shared dorm, giving him nicknames, maybe that all wouldn’t bother him so much if he was actually straight. there was this nonstop paranoia in eddie, that felt like richie did everything he did on purpose, like he was trying to get under his skin." or where a misunderstanding leaves people under the impression eddie is straight





	non stop paranoia

It had rained in Portland for three days, and the rain was no longer putting Eddie at ease. Rain normally calmed him, he could curl up next to his window with a good book, and blissfully fall asleep to the sound of a heavy storm tapping against his roof. He watched the street lamps and car headlights reflect on the wet street, head against the window with a tight jaw and clenched fist as the events of the past days replayed in his head. He made a grade on an essay lower than average, submitted two past assignments later than the turn in date, resulting in points marked off the top. It seemed his mother called every hour, on the hour, making it impossible to study. And that’s when he could actually study in his own dorm, because it seemed like his roommate could not keep his dick in his pants, or less he would explode. 

Eddie’s frustrations overflowed and he groaned out loud, causing his Uber driver to check on him from the rear view mirror with a raised eyebrow. Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed, shaking his head, and the driver’s eyes went back to the road.

“You’re not even going to ask what’s wrong?” blurted Eddie, another thing he didn’t really mean to say. 

The man didn’t move his head, responding monotonically, “Wasn’t planning on it.”

Eddie grumbled angrily, sinking back into the seat with his arms crossed. He watched the passing scenery as the car pulled closer to his dorm building. Instead of stopping at the front and letting Eddie out there, they drove towards the student parking lot. The cold expression and monotone voice from the driver, and this suspicious act didn’t feel right to Eddie, fear replacing the anger growing in his belly.

He parked and didn’t say a single word, but had not unlock the car. Eddie gripped his key ring tightly, a key in between each finger in a wolverine like defense to protect him from whatever the man in the front seat tried to pull.

He looked at Eddie from the rear view mirror, and casually explained, “I live here.”

Eddie released the grip on his keys as he released his breath, a huge sigh of relief escaping his mouth. 

The driver laughed softly, apologizing before further explaining he was looking for his umbrella. And Eddie laughed, too, realizing how foolish it was to think he was being kidnapped, when it’s not surprising that a college student would drive for Uber part time. Their laughter soothed the unsettled tension packed in the car.

Eddie graciously thanked the other, but refused when he offered to share his umbrella.

“We’re going the same way,” he said, opening the umbrella. “It’s no big deal, really.” He assured, walking along side Eddie.

Before Eddie could ask for himself, the other spoke up. “My name is Stan, by the way.” Stan was taller than Eddie, which made sharing an umbrella a little difficult, and had been driving for Uber since his first semester started.

Stan’s eyebrows raised in surprise when Eddie introduced himself. “Eddie, yeah. We’ve met before, sort of.”

“Met before?” Eddie was good with faces and names. He’s never met Stan before, he was sure of it. He had never seen his slender face, or hazel eyes.

Stan gulped, “In passing. I’m a friend of Richie’s.”

Eddie wanted to apologize for him. He wasn’t too sure how Richie conjured a line of suitors outside their dorm room. He wasn’t exactly conveniently attractive, but maybe there was some underlying charm or humor there Eddie wasn’t aware of. Eddie shook his head, that couldn’t be it, Richie was overall terrible.

“He never called me.” Stan mentioned, deadpanned.

This is where, with gritted teeth, Eddie thought to cut their conversation short. As nice as Stan was, he didn’t plan on speaking about his roommate’s sexual conquests with his uber driver. They nodded and waved good night, and Eddie sighed in relief once the door was closed, lucky enough to dodge an awkward conversation. He dropped his book bag by the door. He did not text Richie to let him know he was coming back, but it is his dorm room too, and he studied at the coffee shop as long as he could before they closed. He scoffed to himself. How could someone be so selfish, to engage in some sexual rendezvous and not even obtain the manners to let them know you want nothing further? Eddie shook his head, making his way to the small kitchen they shared.

He found Beverly Marsh, legs swinging from where she sat on the counter, eating ice cream straight from the container. He knew her name because they took environmental science together, and because this isn’t the first time Eddie had walked in on her here.

They both froze. spoon hanging from Beverly’s mouth. Eddie opened his to speak, but was interrupted.

“Bev! What’s taking so long?” Richie called from the bedroom. “We’ve got about an hour until Ed comes back. Get in here!”

Eddie closed his eyes, breathing heavily as he composed himself before nodding. He said nothing to Beverly, but headed back to the door, grabbing his book bag from the floor.

He locked the door behind him, turning swiftly and almost bumping into to Stan. “What are you doing here?”

“I- uh,” Stan blinked, still adjusting from almost slamming heads with Eddie. “Thought you would need a place to retreat if Richie..” he paused, seemingly trying to find the most polite way of putting it. “had company. You want to hang out at mine?”

The night was turning in ways Eddie could not have possibly thought of before he left out that evening. He shrugged his shoulders, almost defeated. He can’t even enjoy laying in his own bed after wallowing in his emotions and a matcha latte. “Sure.” Eddie managed to crack a small smile, trailing behind Stan as they walked to his dorm.

All dorm rooms came with everything a student needed, and not many people embellished. Eddie put up a poster or two, but him and Richie’s dorm was minimalist at best. Stan’s dorm, however, had plants. A lot of them. An ivy that seemed limitless, protruding from an overhead shelf and stretching out to rustle Stan’s hair. “Water?” he offered from the tiny kitchen, not brushing the leaves away from his face.

“I’m okay. You have a green thumb?” Eddie questioned, still near the door. He wasn’t comfortable enough to drop his bag, or remove his jacket yet, and wasn’t exactly welcomed in.

“Oh, no.” Stan blew a gust of air upwards, making the leaves sway. He bumped the refrigerator door with his hip, closing it, then returned to the tiny living space. “It’s my roommate’s. You don’t want to sit?”

Eddie giggled, sitting down on ridiculously patterned armchair, and gripping his book bag in his lap. He was surprised it wasn’t covered in plastic, by how ornate it looked, maybe Stan thrifted it from a resale shop. “Are you drinking wine?”

“Yeah, wine. It’s a Friday, we’re in college.” Stan responded nonchalantly, sitting in a chair across from him. It wasn’t a matching furniture set, another piece bought second hand, but had to be comfortable. Stan sat with his legs stretched over an arm of the chair. “It’s boxed Franzia, not that fancy.” He assured, raising his glass and taking a sip.

Eddie nodded. Stan was comfortable in his own dorm, of course, but Eddie had yet to even shed his own jacket. He wanted to open his body language, in some way that said, ‘I can make friends and be cool under even the wackiest of circumstances! Thanks for letting me in your dorm room!’ but instead, he peered around, examining the place, quiet.

“Is it okay that I’m here?” Eddie asked.

“My roommate’s out, so you can relax, really.” Stan responded.

“Is he out doing what Richie does?” Eddie tried to ease up, cracking a joke, and Stan laughed, trying his best not to choke while sipping his wine.

“Oh, no. Not unless Richie gets paid for what he’s doing.” Eddie raised an eyebrow. 

Stan explained, “He’s at work. Mike’s working.” and Eddie nodded.

Just mentioning Richie’s name made Eddie’s ears heat up. Why he was stuck with inconsiderate, sex addicted jerk as a roommate, instead of one who gardened, was beyond him. It wasn’t just the constant sex partners that bothered Eddie, it was how he left laundry in the living space when the hamper was in the bedroom, or how he drank Eddie’s almond milk, when he had a half gallon of dairy right next to it. 

He thought back to earlier when he confronted Richie, about how he hated leaving his own room for Richie to fuck. 

Richie just laughed at Eddie, standing outside their door this evening, “You don’t have to leave,” he patted Eddie on the shoulder before he closed the door on him, “Hell, you could join sometimes.”

Eddie groaned exasperatedly, throwing his hands up. “Ugh!” He was glad Mike was not there, because he was loud. He looked over at Stan, who was staring at Eddie, wide eyed due to his sudden outburst.

“Sorry.” Eddie squeaked. He had originally not planned on venting, but as he poured out his frustrations on his Uber driver he just met hours ago, anyone would’ve thought Eddie was the one drinking wine.

Stan listened, though, nodding tentatively as he tried to piece everything together. He sat up, crossing his legs as a therapist would before setting his glass, without a coaster. “So, you’re mad Richie hit on you?”

Eddie frowned, crossing his arms over his book bag. “Well, yeah. Where does he get off doing that? Why would I ever stoop that low?” He shook his head, looking over at Stan.

“Oops, I didn’t mean—“

Stan shook his head, finishing what was left in his glass, and constraining his laughter. “No, don’t apologize.” He grinned. He leaned back, wine taking effect as he smiled, thought back to when he slept with Richie, and spoke with ease. “I mean, it was fun.”

Eddie sat up, unimpressed. “Fun?” he asked. “Don’t you want a relationship more than.. fun?”

Stan pondered for a moment before shrugging his shoulders in agreement, and nodding. “Well, yeah. That’s why I’m not seeing him now.” He stood up, making his way back to the kitchen to pour another glass. “And what Richie and I had is not what I would call a relationship.”

Eddie groaned in response, leaning back against the chair, frustrated.

“I mean, come on, you’ve never thought about it?”

Stan raised his head from behind the kitchen bar as he heard Eddie exclaim. “Yuck! As if!”

And Stan nodded silently, shrugging, and directed his attention back to his glass. He said monotonously, “Oh, my bad. I didn’t know you were straight.”

Eddie sputtered, “Straight?”

“Yeah. That’s why you’re so offended. Because you’re straight, right?”

He had no trouble speaking what was on his mind tonight, but Eddie stopped to ponder. He definitely was not straight— he came out before leaving home for college, an argument with evil words from his mother that still left a sour taste in his mouth when he thought about it. But, maybe it would be easier if he was straight. Richie hitting on him, inviting all of these boys inside their shared dorm, giving him nicknames, maybe that all wouldn’t bother him so much if he was actually straight. There was this nonstop paranoia in Eddie, that felt like Richie did everything he did on purpose, like he was trying to get under his skin.

Eddie wasn’t exactly open about his sexuality, but he wasn’t ashamed of it, either. Maybe somewhere deep inside of him, he could have some sort of weird, jealous crush on Richie. But he wouldn’t admit to it now. As he opened his mouth to deny Stan’s idea, someone walked into the dorm.

The possibility of Eddie having any sort of interest in Richie was washed away. His mother would faint at the sight of how Eddie eyed the boy up and down, almost salivating while unshamelessly checking out the tall, dark, and handsome man. The sight of his straight, sparkling white teeth made Eddie’s head spin, but he cleared his throat, and that bought Eddie back down to earth.

“Uh, hey. I didn’t know Stan was having company.” He said, closing the door behind him. He tossed his jacket on the empty chair Stan was sat in.

“Oh, hi.” Eddie sprung up, wiping his hands on his pants before extending one. “I’m Eddie. I was getting ready to go, really.”

“I’m Mike.” he grinned, and had a firm handshake. “You can stay, you’re not bothering me.”

Stan emerged from the kitchen, glass in his grasp. “Mike! Welcome home!” he waltzed to where the two were standing, and threw an arm over Eddie’s shoulder, almost toppling him over, as Stan was significantly taller than me.

“This is my friend, Eddie.” He slurred his words as he introduced him. Apparently, the wine started to kick in. Eddie thought Stan was a different person when he was drunk, and he definitely had too much to drink, as drunk on wine as a middle aged, lonely, housewife. 

He snorted when he laughed, leaning closer to Mike. “He’s straight, can you believe that!” What was suppose to be a whisper embarrassed Eddie, and Mike cracked an awkward smile, removing Stan’s arm from Eddie’s shoulder. 

“Someone’s had too much to drink,” Mike sighed as Stan collapsed into his chest, and he wrapped an arm around him. “I’m sorry, but it was nice to meet you, Eddie.”

Eddie nodded, waving goodbye to the both of them, and let himself out. He leaned his back against the door once he was outside, and hung his head, embarrassed. Letting out a huge sigh, he held his head in his hands. The rain poured heavily, storm crashing on the roof of the dorm building like his thoughts, and all hopes of ever impressing Mike, crashing down as well. He dragged his feet back to his dorm, the only other faces he saw this late in the halls were from disheveled people like Beverly, retreating to their own room after sleeping in someone else’s.

He rethought the events as he prepared for bed, washing his face and changing into different clothes. He emerged from the bathroom, and Richie was fast asleep, snoring as usual. Eddie tossed and turned, the snoring keep him awake. He scoffed under his breath, mumbling to himself how dumb it was to allow both of them to think he was straight. The thought of Mike’s handsome face made Eddie’s stomach turn, he didn’t even have a chance to be turned down by Mike, like he expected he would be, before Stan blew it for him.

His eyes shot open when he realized he left his bag at their dorm. He rolled over on his side, curling up, and buried his face deep in his pillow, like he was shielding it from embarrassment. Eddie had to face them both again, and he was dreading it. As if this day wasn’t bad enough, it was almost like he had to relive all of it tomorrow.


End file.
